British woman becomes 13th to die in Spain’s wildfires

A British woman has died following one of Spain’s worst wildfires, taking the confirmed death toll to 13 while more people remain missing.

She was taken to the hospital after the forest fires devastated parts of Almeria, tearing through 17,300 acres in Los Gallardos since Friday.

The woman, 93, had burns covering 20% of her body when she was admitted to hospital on Friday.

She is said to have had pre-existing medical conditions, and was one of eight people taken to hospital, four of them with serious injuries, according to regional officials.

Formal identification of the victims, none of whom have been identified yet, is being carried out using DNA from the families who reported loved ones missing in the deadly blaze, which ripped through the area popular with tourists and expats.

Most of the victims are Belgian and British, along with one Spaniard.

Remains of four people thought to be British were found trapped in a right-wheel vehicle.

The death toll is feared to rise as at least 23 people are missing.

Meanwhile, rescue teams searching for any survivours discovered a British couple alive but in critical condition lying in a rugged ravine after becoming trapped by the flames during a hike.

Spain’s civil guard officers were about to turn away when hearing distant cries for help.

Sergeant Pedro Barr told broadcaster TVE: ‘As you gain more experience, something inside you tells you, “Look again, try one more time”.’

He said they almost mistook the cries for an echo.

The hikers had suffered burns to 40% of their bodies, and were taken to the hospital.

A British man trying to escape with his cats is believed to have died while phoning his wife as flames surrounded his car.

Penelope Howe, from Wolverhampton, told The Times what happened to her friend’s husband trapped in the tragedy.

Howe said: ‘She’s in deep shock. At one point, he needed to stop and she spoke to him on the phone.

‘He had got the cats and was trapped in the car. They were speaking together for the last few minutes. That was how it ended.’

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